Medicinal Value of Honey

For centuries honey had been known as nature's medicine. Both the Greeks and Egyptians used honey as one of their main healing tools, with the famous scientist Aristotle saying that pale honey was "as good as a salve for sore eyes and wounds". But despite its long history within the healing community, honey is now seen as something of a fad, another money making scam from the natural health industry that actually has no medical benefits at all. But there are new studies being conducted that could see us all adding honey not to our toast, but back into our medicine cabinets.

Each beehive will produce a different type of honey depending on which flower the bees get their nectar from. Manuka honey comes from the flower of the Manuka bush that is native to New Zealand and has been found to have amazing anti bacterial properties. Bandages are now being made that contain traces of Manuka honey; this helps stop the growth of harmful bacteria even when wounds are badly infected. The Manuka honey's amazing healing properties come from a chemical reaction that takes place while the honey is being made. This reaction produces hydrogen peroxide, which is a well known antiseptic. Since Manuka Honey is a natural ingredient, it has been found to have no negative side effects when used for medical purposes.

While Manuka honey aids healing another type of honey has been found to ease children's colds, sooth their chesty coughs and promote sleep. The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine recently published the results of a study that seemed to confirm this fact. The study included 105 children between the ages of 2 and 18. In a partially blind test some of the children were given buckwheat honey, some honey flavored syrup and some nothing. Short surveys filled in by the children's parents showed that when their children were given just a little bit of honey before bed they slept better and coughed less than when they took the syrup or nothing at all. "This is the first time honey has been actually proven as a treatment," says lead study author Dr. Ian Paul, a researcher at Penn State College of Medicine.

Research in to the healing properties of honey is ongoing, but with many bacteria now becoming immune to prescribed antibiotics honey is being seen by many as an amazing natural alternative.